West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
West Ham 0-2 Manchester City -At the London Stadium, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland made his debut in the Premier League with a two-goal performance as they defeated West Ham by a score of 2-0.
The defending champions earned three points from their first game thanks to a penalty kick scored by Haaland in the first half and then a finish that was typically clinical scored by the big-money signing after the break.
It was fitting that the new City player became only the second City player to score a brace on his Premier League bow, with the former Argentina international being the other in August 2011. Given that Haaland is seen as the striker that Pep Guardiola has been lacking since Sergio Aguero’s departure, it was fitting that the new arrival became only the second City player to score a brace on his Premier League bow.
Due to injuries, Hammers manager David Moyes had no choice but to put fullback Ben Johnson at center back with Kurt Zouma. Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop, and Nayef Aguerd were all unable to play due to their respective conditions.
West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
It took a while for City to get going, and they thought they had taken the lead when a neat move down the left led to Haaland playing in Ilkay Gundogan, who squared for Kevin De Bruyne to sweep home, only for the offside flag to go up. This happened when a neat move down the left led to Haaland playing in Ilkay Gundogan, and it took a while for City to get going.
Lukasz Fabianski was forced to leave the game after receiving an injury after a challenge for the ball with Haaland. Alphonse Areola came in to replace Fabianski after the goalkeeper was forced to leave the game due to his injury. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
Areola’s first contribution was to bring down Haaland as he was through on goal, which resulted in the awarding of a penalty to Norway in the 36th minute. The Norway striker converted the penalty with composure, sending Areola the wrong way with his shot.
As the Hammers looked for an equalizer and turned to their own new striker Gianluca Scamacca to come on just before the hour mark, Declan Rice wasted a good opportunity early in the second half after Gundogan made a mistake. Some uncharacteristic misplaced passes from City also crept in as the Hammers looked for an equalizer. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
However, Haaland scored once more after 65 minutes after a City counterattack led to De Bruyne passing the ball to his new teammate. The former player for Borussia Dortmund then calmly placed his shot past Areola to secure all three points for his club.
What exactly does it signify? An ominous beginning for the champions
It was not a great effort from the champions, but they still mostly dominated the encounter against a West Ham side that lacked enthusiasm, continuing their exceptional record when playing away from home. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
City has only one loss in their previous 29 games played in the Premier League (W24 D4) and are also undefeated in their last 19 games played away from home (W15 D4) Their only loss on the road in the top level last season came on the opening weekend of the season at Tottenham. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
An early blow has already been dealt by City, who are trying to capture their fifth Premier League title in six years. Liverpool dropped points on this first weekend, giving City the opportunity to strike early and strike hard.
Dream start for Haaland
Haaland is the seventh Norwegian player to score in his Premier League debut, and the third Norwegian player to do it in the opening game of a season, following in the footsteps of Tore Andre Flo in 1997–1998 and Adama Diomande in 2016–2017.
The 22-year-old forward has also been involved in nine goals in the four games that he has played on the opening weekend of a league season. He has contributed an assist with Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, two goals with Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a double and two assists with BVB in the previous season, and a brace for City.
City, the gatekeepers of access
When playing against City, it is almost impossible to see much of the ball, but the home team gave up much too much of it in the first half. This made it especially difficult for the visitors. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
In the first half an hour of the match, City hit about 403 while Moyes’s team only managed 106 shots and hit their targets only 69.8 percent of the time.
The 2-2 tie with City in May was the only time since 2003-04 that West Ham started a Premier League game with less pass attempts than their opponent. The contest was between West Ham and City. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
Facts you need to know about Opta
During the past six season-opening league games that City have played as champions, they have won five of those games and have kept a clean sheet in four of those matchups. West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland hits debut double
- Sean Dyche is the only manager Guardiola has met more times in all competitions without losing to in his managerial career (excluding Barcelona B), and he has faced Dyche fifteen times. – David Moyes is the only manager Guardiola has lost to in his managing career (13 – W9 D4).
- Haaland is the second player to make his Premier League debut after Alexandre Pato to win a penalty and then successfully convert it. Pato did it for Chelsea back in April of 2016, and Haaland followed in his footsteps (v Aston Villa).
In his 12 Premier League starts against West Ham, De Bruyne has scored three goals and assisted six more, for a total of nine goals in which he has been directly involved.
What should I do now?
Both teams will compete against teams that have been promoted to the Premier League; West Ham will travel to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, while City will play host to Bournemouth on Saturday.
